There is a worldwide problem of tracking and detection of explosives. Over two million metric tons of explosives are manufactured in the United States every year. Several tons are lost or stolen each year This puts into play the problem of being able to sense the movement and location of explosive material, whether stolen or not, and in the past the documentation for the explosives has been spotty at best. In general, shipping documents have been utilized to identify the explosives and their origin. However, shipping documents alone when generated may be improperly generated or may be fraudulent; and the explosives themselves may be separated from the shipping documents.
As illustrated in US Patent Publication 2005/0131655 by Moolman et al a method is provided for logging the use of non-electric detonators in which the identity data of a detonator is recorded at the time the detonator is being loaded into blast hole. Moreover, the consumption of the detonator is recorded and the system relates the identity data associated with the detonator to an inventory of non-electric detonators to allow inventory updating. However, it will be seen that providing inventories and inventory lists are not capable of monitoring and tracking explosives. Secondly, and most importantly, there is a class of explosive detonators which are electric. Providing electronic tracking apparatus for electric detonators was thought to be dangerous, as it was thought that transmissions could ignite the explosives.
Note that explosive materials can be in blasting caps, spooled energetics, boosters, PBX sheet, C4 explosives, and shock tubes to name just a few explosives.
Thus, a methodology needs to be developed which affords worldwide localization and identification of explosive materials without increasing the inherently dangerous. Specifically, the tracking system cannot result in inadvertent activation. Moreover, there needs to be a system to monitor the explosive materials entire life cycle from manufacture through storage to ultimate use, in which the explosives are to be logged and traced. Moreover, it is a requirement that the detected material be tracked back to the manufacturer of the explosive material or forward to the intended users of the material.
It is important not only to be able to be able to track the explosives themselves which are packaged and ready for use, it is also important to be able to track and identify the explosive material itself, such as for instance C4 explosive, or even ammonium nitrate used to make explosives. Therefore, it is a requirement to be able to detect the existence and location of explosive material and then to identify its source. As a result, one can then identify stolen explosives or identify what explosives have been used or are going to be used.
The use of so-called RFID tags that are microscopic in size has been proposed to identify objects. One patent that utilizes RFID tag technology is U.S. Pat. No. 6,259,367 which provides a method for identifying and returning an object by affixing to the object a passive two way communication circuit such as a frangible radio security tag or a smart label. RFID tags have been used in so-called smart cards as illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 6,853,087. A system for providing container security by measuring various parameters of the material within the container is described in US Patent Publication 2005/0073406.
As to RFID tags and particularly smart dust, an article in Intelligent Enterprise of Jul. 18, 2003 describes RFID tagging of inventory, such as for instance razorblades, and has suggested an updatable RFID tag being embedded in high value currency or bank notes to combat counterfeiting and money laundering. As described in this article, smart dust takes the concept of a simple RFID circuit, replacing the barcode label, and extends it to embedding an entire computer in a microscopic package. Note, in Computer World on Mar. 24, 2003 in an article by Thomas Hoffman, the ability to scatter hundreds of tiny sensors around a building to monitor temperature or humidity is described. Also, a system for deploying pixie dust is said to involve a network of minuscule remote sensor chips to track enemy movements in a military operation.
The definition of smart dust according to this article are devices that are tiny wireless micro electromechanical sensors, MES, that can detect everything from light to vibrations. These devices, termed “motes”, are said to be available in the size of a grain of sand and each could contain sensors, computing circuits, bi-directional communication technology and a power supply.
Moreover, the University of California Annual Financing Report of 2003 refers to the smart dust work of Professor Christopher Pister in which a defense contractor in San Diego has become a Dust Networks customer using the technology for perimeter security systems.
Additionally, in an article entitled “FutureTech” written by Bill Robinson for Gateway 2 Russia, he opines that smart dust is becoming something that will eventually end up as an RFID tag based distributed sensing smart dust system.
Further, U.S. Pat. No. 6,615,074 relates to apparatus for energizing a remote station through the irradiation of a device by a remote energy source.
Note also in the Wall Street Journal of Thursday Jul. 7, 2005 Italian parmesan makers use technology to track authenticity and quality of their cheese using RFID tags embedded in the rind of many of the freshly made wheels of cheese that they sell.
More importantly, and incorporated herein by reference is Patent Publication 2007/0281657 entitled “Microradio Design, Manufacturing Method and Applications for the Use of Microradios” which is assigned to the assignee hereof.
In this Patent Publication a micro radio design is described which is small enough to be able to extend the RFID tag technology to smart dust applications. This patent Publication, as well as US Patent Publication 2007/0085689, also incorporated herein by reference, indicate the tagging of various objects. However monitoring of the manufacturer and travel history of explosives or explosive materials is not discussed. While US Patent Publication 2007/0281657 describes the use of the micro radios to detect improvised explosive devices (IEDs), the manufacture and travel history of the IEDs is not discussed.
Thus, it will be appreciated that the aforementioned patent publications do not describe how to trace explosives and identify their origin during their whole life cycle.